Due to the conveniences and usability, wireless remote control technologies have been widely used in numerous electrical devices, such as television sets, video cassette recorders, refrigerators and other appliances which are controlled by the infrared remote controllers. By using remote control technologies, people may live more comfortably and save more manpower.
Meanwhile, more and more new wireless technologies have emerged and provided more advantages and lower costs than older ones. For example, Bluetooth is a wireless communication technology which has been applied in practice recently. It can be used to control electrical/electronic devices and get the status of the devices. Furthermore, because of the intelligence and scalability, it can manage almost all kinds of devices so as to save energy, increase security and reduce costs.
Nevertheless, in the practical life, there are still many devices which do not have wireless remote control function, such as electric light switches. From technology point of view, integration of an embedded wireless system and a mechanical controller is a feasible solution to achieve the wireless remote control to the electric light. However, changing the switching mode from manual control to wireless remote control requires many updates in manufacture and installation and would not be able to utilize the existing facilities and investment properly. Moreover, due to the changes of operation mode and the addition of new functions, users have to study new skills. This may cause some extra costs and inconveniences. As a result, the consumers may not choose a control panel with an integrated remote control module.
Another problem is that wireless communication techniques are developing fast. But for the devices which have been produced and used in practice, it is impossible to update them with the new wireless techniques because the wireless communication units have been integrated in those devices already. Thus, the lifetime of the device is limited and the updating cost is increased.